An examination of science teachers' digital literacy, anxiety, and attitudes in the teaching process within the context of multicultural project participation across various variables

The purpose of this study is to examine the digital literacy levels, teaching process concerns, and attitudes toward multicultural education of science teachers who participate in multicultural projects, in relation to various variables. The research was carried out using a descriptive survey design, one of the quantitative research methods. The study sample consisted of 47 Science, Physics, Chemistry, and Biology teachers who actively took part in eTwinning and Erasmus+ projects. Participants were selected through criterion sampling, a purposive sampling technique. Data were collected through three scales: the Multicultural Education Attitudes Scale (Yazıcı et al., 2009), the Digital Literacy Scale (Bayrakçı et al., 2021), and the Teacher Anxiety Scale (Kahraman & Polat, 2017). As a result of the reliability analysis of the scales, the internal consistency coefficient of the Digital Literacy Scale was 0.91, the Cronbach alpha coefficients for the sub-dimensions of the Teacher Anxiety Scale were 0.95 for Science and Laboratory, 0.91 for Communication, and 0.88 for Classroom Management, and the Cronbach Alpha coefficients were found to be highly reliable (α>0.80). The Cronbach's alpha internal consistency coefficient for the Multicultural Education Attitudes Scale was 0.74, indicating moderate reliability (α>0.70). Data were analyzed using the SPSS 26.0 package program, and descriptive statistics were analyzed using the Independent Samples T-test, One-Way Analysis of Variance (One-Way ANOVA), and LSD Post Hoc tests. A p<0.05 level of significance was considered. According to the research findings, teachers' attitudes towards multicultural education were generally high; however, it was determined that there was no significant difference according to the variables of duration of computer and internet use, education level, school location, and tenure. Teachers who actively used Web 2.0 tools had significantly higher digital literacy levels, and this difference had a medium effect size according to Cohen's (1988) classification. Significant differences were found in the "daily use" and "privacy-security" sub-dimensions of the tenure variable in favor of teachers with 6–15 years of service. In the "graduate field" variable, Science, Chemistry, and Biology teachers had higher "social dimension" scores than Physics teachers. Furthermore, the digital literacy levels of teachers with master's degrees were significantly higher than those with bachelor's degrees. Comparisons made according to the project type variable revealed that teachers participating in eTwinning projects had significantly higher multicultural education attitudes than Erasmus participants. Furthermore, eTwinning participants were found to have higher "daily digital tool use" and "privacy and security awareness" than Erasmus teachers. However, no significant differences were found based on project type in terms of other sub-dimensions of digital literacy or teaching process anxiety. These findings demonstrate that eTwinning projects play a significant role in teachers' development of digital awareness and intercultural sensitivity, while Erasmus projects offer distinct experiential contributions in terms of international interaction. The findings indicate that teachers generally have high levels of digital competence, positive multicultural attitudes, and moderate levels of teaching process anxiety. The findings indicate that digital competence develops not only based on duration of technology use but also on factors such as pedagogical awareness, educational level, and project experience. Based on the research results, it is recommended that in-service training be increased to develop teachers' digital pedagogical skills, that Web 2.0 tools be integrated into multicultural educational environments, and that practices aimed at strengthening digital ethics and data security awareness be supported.